World record holder for changes in positioning?

So let’s just make it Kai Davis week here on my list, shall we? 🙂

Some time ago Kai told me he was pretty sure he holds some kind of record for changing his market position frequently. We’ve known each other for several years now, and I gotta say… I’m inclined to agree.

Kai has iterated his positioning more than most people I know.

Why?

Dude’s got a real nose for value and opportunity, and when he sees a Kai-sized hole in the market, he goes for it. The result is that his income has increased dramatically and he’s got a 6-month long waiting list for his services.

Since even just one change in market position is super scary for a lot of people, I thought you’d like to hear from someone who has done it many times.

I sent Kai a list of questions about his changes to his market position. Here are his answers:

—1. How many times have you changed or tweaked your positioning?

Since starting as a business owner in 2004, I’ve changed my target market, gosh, 10+ times? At first, I didn’t quite know what my positioning was or should be, so it was a bit of blind guessing with an emphasis on the technology I was good at, not the target market or expensive problem I solved.

2. Can you map out the progression of positioning changes?

In the last 3 years, I’ve changed my positioning 4 times:

WordPress Developer / Marketer

SEO for eCommerce

Blogger Outreach for Fashion eCommerce Stores

Outreach for Educational Product Creators

3. Why did you make those changes? Was it external events, change in your interests/vision, or something else?

Each time, with each adjustment, I found myself solving a more valuable problem for the industry I was targeting. I was refining both the target market I was serving (to serve the one that would get the most value from my work) and the problem I was solving (providing the most value possible in my work).

4. What kind of emotions came up for you as you considered making those changes?

At first, fear. Now? Calm trust.

I went from seeing positioning as a disruptive activity to a refinement of my marketing.

5. How disruptive were the actual changes?

Not at all. I was able to continue work with my existing clients — they don’t care about my positioning — and slowly transition my leads to coming from businesses that matched my new positioning.

6. How long did the changes take to implement and how long to produce real-world results?

Implementation? A few hours over a week for bare-bones implementation (updating key pages, refining my service offerings).

Research? Multiple hours over multiple weeks to understand the target market and their expensive problems.

Results? Within the first weeks to 1-2 months, I typically see results.

7. If you could go back in time and tell yourself what to expect and what to do differently, what would you say?

Changing your positioning is about as complex and worry-some as deciding to start an AdWords campaign. There’s an upfront investment in terms of time and then you see if the marketing worked or not. There’s nothing scary about it. It should be routine.

8. Anything else you’d like to add on this topic?

Having a good therapist helps.
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What about you?

If you’re ready to make improvements to your market position in 2017, I’ve got what you need.